Join Bob George as he tackles the complex topic of eternal security, explaining the doctrine of ‘once saved, always saved’. Through engaging dialogues with callers, Bob elucidates the nuances of spiritual rebirth and life in Christ, emphasizing the significance of the resurrection. This episode promises to enrich your faith journey by providing clear answers grounded in biblical truth.
00:00:48 Caller from New Orleans: Understanding Acts and Baptism
00:14:46 Caller from Iowa: Once Saved, Always Saved
00:25:46 Caller from Colorado: Apostolic Succession
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to Classic Christianity Radio with Bob George. Today we are pleased to present a special radio show featuring call-in listeners from Bob’s original people-to-people daily radio program that was on the air for over 30 years, offering real answers for real-life problems as he addresses common questions as well as the tough issues of today, directing callers to the centrality of Christ in you, your only hope of glory. We want to remind our listeners that Bob George Ministries needs your financial support to continue to have Classic Christianity Radio on the air. Please visit BobGeorge.net to find out how you can help support us financially. Let’s now join Bob as he presents practical biblical insights as he helps people experience a life of faith, hope, and love in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER 02 :
We’re going to go to New Orleans, Louisiana, listening on WLNO. Michael, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hey, Bob. Again, I’m just a Bible beginner, and I understand my question has been probably asked many times before. But when we look at Acts 2.38, and then we go to Acts 8.14, it seems as though they both have been baptized in the name of Lord Jesus Christ. One has received the Spirit, and the other has not. What’s your take on that?
SPEAKER 02 :
Go back to first chapter, Michael, Acts, at the beginning of Acts, again recognizing that Acts is a historical book as to what took place. And go back to first chapter into verse 5. John baptized with water, but, so when you see a but, there’s a contrast now, a before and an after. John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And now you go back to where you’re talking about. Same deal. Peter has now just gotten up and making his Pentecostal speech. And it says in chapter 38, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. And that for is because of forgiveness of sins, not in order to bring them about, but because of forgiveness of sins. And you’ll receive the Holy Spirit. That’s what was promised. That’s what he said. He baptized with water, but in a few days he’s going to baptize with the Holy Spirit. So we all think that that baptism is dunked in water. If you keep reading in verse 41, those who accepted this message were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number that day. That’s a lot of people to dunk in water. You’re not talking about water baptism. You’re talking about spiritual baptism, and that’s why at the beginning of the book of Acts, that Dr. Luke clarified that by saying that John the Baptist baptized with water, but in a few days, and that’s what this is a recording of, in a few days that the Lord will baptize us with the Holy Spirit. What the baptism of the Holy Spirit is, or being baptized by the Holy Spirit, is into the body of Christ, Michael. In other words, at the very moment that you were born again of the Spirit, And if the Spirit of God does not live in you, you’re not born again. So there’s no such thing as being born again today and receiving the Spirit tomorrow. That’s an impossibility, and it’s poor doctrine. You can’t be born again unless you’re born again of the Spirit. Now, that means the Spirit comes to live in you. That’s Christ in you. And then the Spirit baptizes or places you into the body of Christ. That’s you in him. So now the transaction is completed. Christ lives in you. You live in him. He lives in you as your head, and you have become the body of Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER 05 :
And that you are referring to 238. That is correct. When you receive, I mean, naturally you understand my question. My question is, and I’m not disputing in what you’re saying, but when it comes down to… Well, what is your question on the thing, Michael?
SPEAKER 02 :
The baptism, you know, it can’t be any more clear. John the Baptist baptized with water, but one coming after me, I’m going to baptize with the Holy Spirit. And that’s what from that day forth, that’s what the day of Pentecost was, was the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They didn’t baptize 3,000 in the first place in Jerusalem. I don’t know where you’d find a place to baptize 3,000 people. But the issue is that that was not the baptism that you’re talking about. It’s the baptism of the Spirit that was promised, which he said in Acts 1.5. That’s what was promised to us. So that’s not confusing at all. That’s just what happens to us when we’re born again of the Spirit. The Spirit of God comes to indwell you and then baptizes or places you into the body of Christ. You and I had to be placed into his body. And that’s what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is, is God baptizing or placing us into the body of Christ Jesus. And that’s what took place there in that second chapter of Acts.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, then what happened with the people in Samaria that had been baptized in the name of Lord Jesus, but yet had not received the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, they came upon him.
SPEAKER 05 :
And how did they know they didn’t receive? How did they know?
SPEAKER 02 :
Remember, you just have to read the context. They called, they went to these people, and they said, what baptism? Have you received the Holy Spirit? And they said, we don’t know what you’re talking about. We received John’s baptism. In other words, we were baptized in preparation for the receiving of the Messiah.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, the people in Samaria didn’t say that. They didn’t say they received the baptism of John.
SPEAKER 02 :
Michael, I don’t know where you’re coming from, but you’re coming, you know, I really don’t. You’re a brand new Christian, but I don’t know where you’re coming from on this. I don’t know how much more clear you can make. Is there any place, you know, are you saying, are you being conned into thinking that you’re saved by getting baptized?
SPEAKER 05 :
No, sir.
SPEAKER 02 :
Not at all. Okay. All right. Then what is the thing that’s confusing? You tell me.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. What is teasing me, and to be very honest with you, is this. In one part of it, it says that when you believe, and when you’re baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, you’ve received the Holy Spirit. And then… In 814, it specifically says these people had been baptized in the name of Lord Jesus, but yet have not received the Holy Spirit. So my question is, I don’t understand.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, okay, I think I understand your question. Yeah, no, that’s not a difficult thing to understand at all. You can be baptized in the name of Jesus and not know the Lord at all. Listen, every Sunday there are thousands of people baptized in the name of Jesus or in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, either way, and don’t know the Lord at all. They’re just baptized. They have no relationship with Christ Jesus. As a matter of fact, many times you’re told to come and get baptized for the remission of your sin and you’re saved.
SPEAKER 05 :
I thought that baptism, under normal circumstances, I thought that baptism was an aftermath of your believing.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, that’s what we know.
SPEAKER 05 :
I don’t need to have baptism to be saved. Right?
SPEAKER 02 :
I mean, am I right or wrong? No, you’re 100% right. I’m just saying, let’s just stay on the subject here. There are people who get baptized.
SPEAKER 05 :
Remember, I’m a baby.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER 05 :
And you’re a mature adult.
SPEAKER 02 :
Sure. So I’m just saying, so I want you to get the thing clear and don’t jump all over the place on me here. There are numerous people every Sunday that get baptized that are not any more saved than a man in the moon because you don’t get saved by getting baptized. So that answers that one question that you’re talking about. You’re baptized, but you’ve never been indwelled by the Spirit of God. And, of course, that ties into that other question. Now, Michael, that ties into what salvation is. Salvation is not getting your sins forgiven. Yes, sir. Salvation is being saved from the consequence of sin, which is death. by the gift of God, which is life. That’s why the resurrection, and Paul said without the resurrection, we’re to be pitied of all people and are still in our sins, is because you’re not saved by the cross, you’re saved by the resurrection. The cross is what cleared the deck of the divine action of now bringing life to the dead. The cross is what God had to take away Because sin was the cause of death, and he had to take away eternally the cause of death before he could give you eternal life. So the cross is preparatory to salvation. It’s what prepared you for salvation. Your salvation is being saved from the consequence of sin, which is death, by the gift of God, which is life. Yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
The resurrection is your salvation.
SPEAKER 02 :
Your life, absolutely. So there are people, obviously, that didn’t understand that back then any more than they understand it today. So there are people who are baptized that thought they were saved. That’s why the apostles came in and said, have you received the Holy Spirit? They said, no, we don’t even know what you’re talking about. And then there’s the other place that you’re talking about where it said they believed, but you see, that’s not the word.
SPEAKER 05 :
And they believed and they were baptized.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, but you see, in the second chapter of John, No, in the second chapter of John, it said that they saw the miracles that Jesus did and believed in him, but Jesus did not believe in them because he knew man and he did not need the testimony of man concerning man. So because we believe in Jesus doesn’t mean anything unless Jesus believes in you. And the only way that Jesus believes in you is when you come to him with a sincere, humble heart, not with an agenda. And so believing, you could say I believed in Jesus, but that does not mean of salvation at all. It’s giving an intellectual belief of Jesus, just like I did for 36 years of my life. I didn’t know Christ as my Lord and Savior at all. I knew about him, but I certainly didn’t know him.
SPEAKER 05 :
Wait a minute. For 36 years of your life, you didn’t know that?
SPEAKER 02 :
No, I wasn’t saved until I was 36. I never had the Bible open until I was 36 years of age.
SPEAKER 05 :
I thought you were saying that for 36 years of your life as a mature adult, you studied this and knew this and then didn’t take it for 36 years.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, no, no, no. I was lost for 36 years. So, again, those passages in there that you’re talking about is just a recording of people. One who had been baptized in the name of Jesus and yet had not received the Holy Spirit of God. That’s very obvious to figure out what that is. What is it?
SPEAKER 05 :
I don’t get it.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, Michael, I’m going to try to wrap this up as quickly as I can. In the eighth chapter, I think we’re talking about two different things. In the eighth chapter, it talks about the fact that when they arrived, they prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit had not come on any of them. They had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, they had been baptized with John’s baptism. At the beginning of Acts, remember it said, John baptized with water, but in a few days you’ll be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So they had not yet been baptized by the Holy Spirit of God. They had merely been baptized in the name of Jesus for forgiveness. Over in 19, it’s the same time. Yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
I mean, I hate to interrupt you on that. I don’t mean to sound rude, but no, it’s not saying that at all. It’s not saying that they were baptized in the name of John with water. They’re saying that they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, which only came after Jesus.
SPEAKER 02 :
No, Michael, I don’t know where you’re going, brother, but you need to quit whatever you’re doing. You need to quit doing because what you’re saying is contradicting things that aren’t true. You can be baptized in the name of Jesus all day long and not know the Lord from an apple tree. And that’s exactly what took place. They did not know the Lord yet. They had merely been baptized in the name of Jesus, just like thousands of people in this day and age are baptized. I was baptized three times in the name of Jesus and didn’t know him from an apple tree. So that has nothing to do with salvation. Baptism has nothing to do with salvation. What they do, they put their hands on them, and they receive the Holy Spirit. That’s salvation. Baptism had nothing to do with it. It’s the same thing over in Chapter 19, the same thing.
SPEAKER 05 :
I agree with that.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, so that’s all that is. Baptism can’t save you. It’s only the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Keep reading that, brother. We’ve got to go on, but I appreciate your call, and don’t hesitate to call again, okay? Thank you, Pat. Bye-bye.
SPEAKER 01 :
Be sure to go to bobgeorge.net to find our in-depth and practical Bible study guides. Each Bible study will teach you more about Jesus and will help strengthen your relationship with God. Now back to our classic Christianity radio program.
SPEAKER 02 :
Let’s go to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Listen on KLNG. Kent, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 04 :
Hi, Bob. This is Kent. Hi, Kent. I haven’t seen you for some time. I got a question. I happened to be out of my car yesterday. At the end of your program, you were responding to a caller who had apparently asked something about once saved, always saved, once in grace, always grace. And I wanted you to see if you could repeat the question he asked, because I want to know the question he asked, because I was just getting in on the answer that you were giving him as I got back in the car.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, Ken, I don’t remember the exact question, but I’m sure that if it was talking about once saved, always saved, I’m sure that question comes up quite a bit. And the answer to that is if we have been given the promised eternal inheritance, which it says in Hebrews we have, and if it says that if we have the Son, we have life, and if we don’t have the Son, we don’t have life, And then you have to understand that that’s what salvation is, is the giving of God’s life to you and to me. Restoring in us what we had lost in Adam, that being the spirit of God living in us. You’re not saved by getting your sins forgiven. You’re saved by the resurrected life of Christ Jesus. But in order to be saved eternally, Kent, what I’m going to ask you to do is to listen to what I’m saying. If you want the question answered, listen. And then after you’ve heard the answer on that, then we’ll take some questions. But just listen. Be patient with me through this. In order to be saved, you have to be saved by receiving life. In other words, you’re lost, you’re dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your sinful nature. God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all your sins. Now, salvation, therefore, is being saved from the consequence of sin, which is death by the gift of God, which is resurrected life. In order to give you a life eternal, eternal life and eternal inheritance, he had to eternally take away the sins of the world because sin causes death. And you see, if you understand what salvation is, is life, then the only thing losing salvation would be losing your life. And the only thing that could cause that would be sin. The reason that’s an impossibility, once you have corrected the only sin attributable to man, which is the rejection of Jesus, and you’re saved, Because of the cross, it’s an impossibility for sin to cause spiritual death because your sins have been taken away at the cross, never to see them again, put behind the back of God and taken away from the eyes of God. And that’s why it’s an impossibility for you to lose eternal life. And for people to question that is saying to Jesus, you did not complete the work on the cross, that you only died for some sins, but not all sins. and really, as it says in Hebrews, making a mockery of the grace of God and treating as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified us and nailing Jesus again onto the cross. And so the reason that I know I have eternal life is because of the eternal consequence of the sin of the cross where Jesus cried out, it’s finished, meaning there’s nothing else to be done.
SPEAKER 04 :
So once you come to Christ and have accepted Christ, no matter what, you have… accepted Christ, and it says that once those that the Father has given me, nothing can take them out of my hands.
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. Absolutely, and I’ll never leave you nor forsake you, Jesus promised. But again, the logic behind this, I think, Ken, is vitally important for us, is to get the divine logic that the reason that, number one, most people don’t know what salvation is until you come to understand it’s life. why then you realize, okay, what kind of life did he give me, eternal life or temporal life? And the reason that I have eternal life is because of the eternal consequence of the cross where he took away the sins of the world. He didn’t come to cover sin. He came to do something far greater, and that was take it away.
SPEAKER 04 :
I was raised in the Armenian background.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I was raised… Don’t ever sin, because if you do, you’ve got to confess that and keep going, because keep short accounts. Make sure that you haven’t done anything wrong. And after listening to your program and having told countless people, I’ve even heard a pastor on the West Coast who is a marvelous pastor say, you can’t be unborn. When I heard him say that, I thought, well, that only makes sense.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, that’s true.
SPEAKER 02 :
human life you can’t be unborn no absolutely and you’ll be born if you once accepted christ if if if you are in christ jesus you’re in christ jesus eternally and there’s not a one of us who are in christ jesus who started out and has lived a sinless life for the rest of the time that doesn’t happen and quite frankly kent the more and the longer i live the more i realize the wisdom of god for placing his spirit in this body that still has indwelling sin living in it. Because if it was not for the fact that I have indwelling sin living in my flesh that I sometimes yield to, and so do you, and so does the whole world, we’d forget Jesus in a New York minute.
SPEAKER 04 :
I know I heard recently to a woman.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I thought, that’s why, because he wants us constantly dependent upon him.
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. And our sins are what keep us dependent. I mean, if I was able to live a perfect life, what do I need Jesus for?
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s what I’ve been trying to do in my salvation experience, is don’t ever even once ever even give in to that whatever that you were once a part of, because you will be lost or you’ll have to get on your knees and confess, confess. And that is part of the background I was raised in.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, yeah. And that’s very prevalent in teaching today. And so that’s where the teaching of the fullness of God’s grace is so liberating because it’s true. I mean, it isn’t something made up. It’s just what the Scripture teaches. But we have so many people that have perverted the Scriptures because they think that if they teach somebody that you are a forgiven person, you’re in Christ Jesus and you’re forgiven, period. why then they say, well, that gives people a license to sin. I say, well, I don’t need a license to sin. I sin quite well without a license, to be real honest with you. But the issue is that how are you doing under the law? Because the power of sin is in the law. And if somebody is saying that I’m under the law but I don’t sin, it’s a liar. And so the issue is what I do with that grace is between me and God, but that does not negate what God did for me.
SPEAKER 04 :
But taking the sins away from the entire world, a person still has to come to Christ, because if they don’t come to Christ and they die, then they are lost.
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely, and that’s why Jesus said, the world’s sin, singular, is unbelief in me. That was a sin that could not be forgiven. It had to be repented of.
SPEAKER 04 :
I need to understand what you were saying, or what I was interpreting you to say. Once saved, always saved, you are his forever, no matter what you do, etc., And I’m thinking, boy, this could be, if I let it, it could be so confusing from the way I was raised.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Well, it would be from the way you’ve raised. It’s confusing. Your doctrine is confusing to me, or the one you grew up with is very confusing to me. I don’t know how somebody on their right mind can deny the finality of the cross, which you’d have to do in order to say that you could lose your salvation. You’d have to say that that’s a sin that he forgot.
SPEAKER 04 :
I could possibly have misunderstood my entire life as I grew up in my church.
SPEAKER 02 :
I don’t think so. No, that’s what’s taught in the Armenian doctrine. That is exactly what’s taught. You can lose your salvation. So, no, you weren’t confused. You were catching it, but it’s just not true.
SPEAKER 04 :
I have to tell you what denomination, just by saying Armenian, that’s what they believed.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right, exactly.
SPEAKER 04 :
Calvinistic way, Bob.
SPEAKER 02 :
Beg your pardon?
SPEAKER 04 :
Rather than the Calvinistic way.
SPEAKER 02 :
Sure.
SPEAKER 04 :
which they feel is once in grace, always in grace, go on your way. They went the Armenian way, which I didn’t understand the Armenian period, so I think I went through my church life totally not even understanding. You have come to Christ. You are in the family.
SPEAKER 02 :
You are in Christ Jesus, and as it says in Hebrews, you have received an eternal inheritance in Christ Jesus. There’s nothing that you can do to get out of Christ Jesus. Like you say, you can’t be unborn.
SPEAKER 04 :
But if you don’t ever come to him… Then you’re lost.
SPEAKER 02 :
You remain dead.
SPEAKER 04 :
Die that way. Die not having accepted what he did. You are lost.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, and a good way, again, so that you see the logic behind that, Kent, is you’re born into this world dead spiritually. In other words, what is spiritual death? The same thing as what is darkness. It’s the absence of light. And what is loss? The absence of salvation. So you’re not born into this world saved. You’re born lost. And if you remain, you refuse the salvation of life offered to us in Christ Jesus, you remain dead. God doesn’t send you to hell. You send yourself there by choosing to remain dead rather than receiving the gift of life that he promised to us.
SPEAKER 04 :
What about individuals who understand that and just say, well, okay, maybe I led someone to understand, accept Christ as your Savior, and then they just don’t do anything whatsoever to have a church life.
SPEAKER 02 :
That is between them and God. But, again, there’s a passage of Scripture that says they went out from among us because they never were a part of us. In other words, giving lip service but never heart-rendering.
SPEAKER 04 :
Without any fellowship to be a part of.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, you can give lip service, but you’re not born again. To truly be born again of the Spirit of God, that is an eternal act of God towards you.
SPEAKER 04 :
What does it mean when he places his Spirit in you, nothing can take that away?
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s what it means. Nothing can take it away.
SPEAKER 04 :
He brands you, and you are his. Is that right?
SPEAKER 02 :
If you have a child, will that child ever not be your child?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I understand. Same thing. A Methodist minister explained to me, he said, I have a son who has nothing to do with us, but he said, he’s still my son.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yep, absolutely, and that’s the same thing with Jesus. Well, thank you, Bob. You’re welcome, Kent. Thanks for your call, brother. Appreciate your interest in the things of the Lord. Okay, pal. Bye-bye now. Very quickly, Longmont, Colorado. This is on KLT. Jim, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you. I just have two comments. One is you earlier responded to a caller who said he thought – It sounded made up, or people thought Christianity was very much a quality of something made up. And I just have a question for you, and I’m sure you’re familiar with the verse in the Bible where Christ said, the gates of Hades will never prevail against my church on earth. There’s only one church that has existed on earth in continuity without change since the time of Christ, and that’s the Catholic Church with apostolic succession.
SPEAKER 02 :
There is no such thing as apostolic succession. To be an apostle, according to the scripture, to be an apostle, they had to be with Jesus from the beginning of his baptism and then witness his death, burial, and resurrection. The only people that could write the canon that we hold in our hands today is people who had been with Jesus from the beginning. You couldn’t be in the canon had you not been an apostle. So apostleship ended with the apostle John, and the Catholic Church is not, The church, the people are the church. There is no such thing as an institution being the church. Whole people are the church. He didn’t come to save Catholics. No, no, he didn’t come to save.
SPEAKER 03 :
When Christ told the people to confess, they said, what if you’re not here to confess? He said, confess to my apostles. You’re saying that was wrong?
SPEAKER 02 :
He didn’t say, confess to my apostles. Is there any place in the Bible he said, confess to my apostles? Yes, you’re wrong, dead wrong, Jim. You need to study the scriptures instead of your tradition.
SPEAKER 01 :
Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
SPEAKER 03 :
Put Jesus first in your life and turn your life around.
